The Mothercare microwave steriliser pod looks like a half dome. It’s made from a robust-feeling plastic, and has a circular coloured base (white or green), tray, and a transparent dome lid that can lock onto the base. The lid also has a handle, which makes moving the unit about easy. This handle can also be removed from the main dome, so you can add water (or let steam out).
The Mothercare microwave steriliser pod can sterilise six bottles in as little as 2 minutes – if your microwave is 1100 watt or more. If your microwave is 810-1100 watts, the sterilisation takes 7 minutes. For those on 800 watt or less (yes, we do exist!), the cycle is 8 minutes. The cooling time suggested is 3 minutes for all cycle lengths.
Mothercare say that as well as being a microwave steam steriliser, it can be used for cold water sterilisation.
What we love
The Mothercare microwave steriliser pod instructions are user friendly – diagrams are next to the text, so it’s super simple to understand.
The biggest plus points of the Mothercare microwave steriliser pod for me are the lockable lid and having a decent, graspable handle on the lid. With quite a few other microwave sterilisers I’ve tried, the lid hasn’t clip-locked on and the handles have been tiny things on the edges of the base. This has made moving a hot, steamy unit out of the microwave difficult, as you need to balance the shifting weight of the water whilst holding onto a tiny lip on the hot, water-filled base. Also, a lockable lid means you can’t bump it off when you’re trying to keep the unit unopened and contents sterile for later in the day/night.
Another point about that lid handle: it’s easy to remove the unit from the microwave because the handle is centrally located, right on the top. With a few other brands that put two “handles” on the base, you can almost guarantee you’ll have to squeeze your hand down behind the hot unit to locate the second handle to pull it out of the microwave.
You can twist the handle and remove it and small circular section while the lid’s locked onto the base – this is great for adding water once the unit is loaded, and for releasing steam.
The steriliser can also take six of any bottle type, so you change your brands or try new types, and they’ll all still fit.
What to watch out for
Mothercare says the “compact size enables pod to fit in most microwaves”, but in reality the microwave steriliser pod is big compared to other microwave sterilisers. It’s just over 19cm tall and the base is 30cm across. I couldn’t squeeze it into an 800 watt LG microwave, and other mums online have commented that it wouldn’t fit theirs. So, make sure you measure your microwave before you buy.
Unless your microwave is 1100 watt or more, you won’t get a 2-minute sterilisation cycle. Anything under this wattage will have more than treble the cycle length – 7 or 8 minutes. Competing sterilisers can do it a couple of minutes faster at these lower wattages, though they hold fewer bottles.
The tongs included are weak, and not sturdy or long enough. I had to use them two-handed to get hold of the bottles.
Who is the Mothercare microwave steriliser pod best for?
Mums with bigger microwaves after a speedy solution.
Mothercare microwave steriliser pod is a sleek looking, well-designed steriliser. It feels robust, is easy to use and the lockable lid with handle really add to the product’s safety and user-friendliness. It also has a great price tage. However, it may not fit your microwave, so measure before you buy, and be aware that you need a lot of watts to get sterile bottles in 2 minutes.
